How Many Flea Markets Does Williamsburg Need?

June 16, 2011

If you didn’t think that Williamsburg already had enough so-called artisanal markets, then you’re in luck. It’s getting another one.

Northside Market is opening its doors June 25, and its reps are taking pains to differentiate it from, well, every other market in Brooklyn. Williamsburg, they say, “is overrun with fleas, flea markets, to be exact, and Northside Market is a breath of fresh air.”

Unlike, say, Artists & Fleas, the Brooklyn Flea, and Smorgasburg, Northside “is not a flea market; it’s a venue.” It’s also “an indoor artisanal market specializing in only new goods, crafts, and food.” Although that more or less fits the description of the other markets we have patronized, this one has air conditioning. Why does it have air conditioning? Because it’s located inside 135 Kent Avenue, the former sales office for the Edge condos, the monolithic eyesores that have ruined the Williamsburg waterfront and supplied the neighborhood’s myriad markets with a good portion of their clientele.

Northside will sell “high quality fashionable products all made entirely from earth friendly materials,” “dark, edgy art, jewelry, prints, and clothes,” and, yes, food. Eton dumplings, Greenpoint’s Cookie Road, Cantina Royal Mexican bistro, and You’ll Eat It and Like It, a new baking company, will all be on hand. And there will also be the requisite flea-market lobster rolls, provided by Lotsa Lobstah.

Interestingly, Alex Sussman, one of Northside’s co-founders, is also a real estate agent whose listings include none other than his market’s 4,100-square-foot space. “Skip the cookie-cutter space and get that real Brooklyn feel for your new location!” the listing reads. This begs a few questions, and also reinforces our conviction that where Williamsburg is concerned, irony isn’t dead. It just smells that way.